Richard Farrell, World's Laziest Mailman, Sentenced to 120 Hours of Community Service for Hoarding and Burning Mail

Richard Farrell, like a lot of working-class folks, would rather spend his day manning a bar stool than slaving away for the man. The difference, however, is that Farrell, a former mail carrier, often did exactly what he felt like. Unfortunately, skipping out on a mail route is a federal crime--a barely punishable federal crime, but a federal crime nonetheless.

The P-Ireported Wednesday that Farrell, a 45-year-old from Belfair, was sentenced to 120 hours of community service and fined $25 for "extreme laziness" in performing his duties as a mailman.

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He worked at the U.S. Postal Service from 1991 to 2010.

One day, some of his colleagues apparently found a load of letters dumped in a recycling bin.

Soon afterward, investigators tailed him during his route and watched while he spent a few hours at the bar, then went home and promptly burned his letter load in a fire pit.

His reason for shirking his duties was a simple one: He didn't feel like the work was worth his time.

As his lawyer, Linda Sullivan, argued in court, Farrell has been neck-deep in tax debt for years, and at the time that he was dumping his loads (giggity) the IRS was garnishing his wages.

"He became very frustrated with this situation and began to feel that he was simply working for nothing . . . His frustration and anger with the Postal Service got the better of him and he began not delivering all of the mail, in an effort to trim his workload."

On balance, however, Farrell is still likely coming out on top. It'd be a safe bet that the countless hours in his 19-year mail-carrier career that he spent tipping back bottles at the bar or channel-surfing on his couch grossly outweighs the 120 hours he got of community service.